


To Him

by MydayHaze



Series: Jae Cafe AU [1]
Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Heartbreak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-10 21:59:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16463111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MydayHaze/pseuds/MydayHaze
Summary: You're just a girl standing in front of a boy, asking him to love you. And he did. Didn't he?





	To Him

“Jae, I’m so tired.”

The realization hit you the same time you opened your mouth. As the words hang around you, all the time you kept silent dawned on you. How long were you feeling like this? How long have you broken yourself just to fit in this empty hole he viciously protected?

You couldn’t stop my tears now, even though you know how much he hates crying. You just hope the darkness of the sidewalk is enough to mask your face. A nearby streetlamp is the only source of light. It feels like the moon has also hidden her face among the clouds. No one else should witness this, you think. No one else should see you break.

He stops walking. You stay there, rooted at the spot. You stare at his back, the shoulders you know so well. How many times has he walked away? Too many to count now. 

You see him clenching and unclenching his fingers. You know all the rough edges of those fingers, the cuts and the bruises. The first time he let you touch those hands, you cleaned the slice he got while trying to change his strings. You were careful, you handled the wound like a professional. Finally, when you secured the knot, you gently placed his hand back to his lap. You were afraid to touch him too long as he might not let you near him again. But to your surprise, he held your hands. He seemed so unsure of himself, it almost made you smile. But you kept still, just looking at him and wondering what he’ll do next. After a few minutes of just sitting there, holding each other’s hands, he got up and mumbled a thanks.

From that day on, you two had an unspoken agreement. Whenever he accidentally burned himself using the coffee maker or get small cuts from practicing, he went to you and you patch him up. He’s had a number of injuries and it seemed to be piling up. But that didn't’ concern you. It means more time to be close to him and you savored every moment. 

He was hard on everyone.The only reason the crew put up with him was because the owner was his uncle. He wasn’t mean or outrightly rude, he just didn’t engage. He took the shortest breaks and take on the longest shifts. When you started at the cafe, he was unfortunately assigned to training you. He taught you all the basic necessities in under 15 minutes. It was swift but surprisingly proficient. He didn’t speak to you after and went on his way making the best brewed coffee you had. 

After that day, you started studying him intently. You know he comes in exactly 5 am every work day and spends about 30 mins of alone time in the cafe because the other crew comes in at 5:30-6 am for prep time. You knew this because you’ve watched him that one morning, when you got in the cafe at 4:45 to study and write papers before starting the work day. By 5:15, you were about to get up from where you were sitting and make coffee for yourself when you saw him at the small kitchen behind the counter. He was just standing there. The soft morning light, which was starting to come in by the small window above, bathed the tips of his dyed blonde hair. It made him look angelic. Finding him there was like finding a rare moment when an angel lands down to earth. All the indifference he masks himself with everyday, all the seemingly dark, silent aura he spreads around, at this moment, all of those were gone. It left him so open and defenseless, an angel without his sword and shield. 

But even if you marveled this rare sight, you felt your heart break a little. He seemed so lost, like he was waiting for something that will never come. When he began to move, you immediately went back to where you were sitting. You can’t imagine how he’ll react if he saw you there, witnessing him at his most vulnerable moment. 

You rarely saw him smile. He smiles at the customers, but a genuine smile? That was reserved on the stage. Every Thursday was Performance Night at the cafe. He’s off Thursday’s so he has plenty of time to prepare and practice. Thursdays has been your favorite day ever since you watched him on the stage. He was enigmatic; he played his guitar with such passion you didn’t know he was capable of. And when somebody loudly cheered for him, he smiled so wide you felt your chest was about to burst. He belonged up there, that much was clear. 

When the night ended, when the crew was starting to clean up the place, you saw the change. The charm, the confidence that radiated off of him the whole night seemed to have evaporated. His shoulder sloped, his face, bright with wonder just moments ago, was back to scowling. His eyes, those dark pools you lost yourself into too often enough, became black holes. This was the guy you almost see everyday. This is the guy who worked countless hours behind the counter, collecting small injuries along the way. This is the guy everyone saw. But the guy on the stage? You vowed to let that side of him out more often, and maybe vanish his dark persona once and for all.

After the countless times of treating his injuries, he became warmer to you. You felt the change, subtle as it is. Months of working together at the counter also brought the two of you a sense of rhythm. You also started commenting on the coming and goings of customers, just off-hand compliments and observations. You didn't push it when he didn’t react, and you continued working and adding more when you feel like it. In a way it felt like talking to yourself. When he first gave a reaction to one of you off-hand comments, your heart soared. Though it was a mere scoff, barely even audible because of the constant buzz of conversation in the cafe, you felt like you’ve already won the lottery. You didn’t jump for joy, but just smiled and continued wiping the counters. 

Soon, he started whispering comments too. He’d been working in the cafe longer than anyone else so he knew all the regulars. You could barely hold your laughter when he mentioned Mr. Park’s uneven eyebrow or Mrs. Kwon’s ever changing handbag that matches her outfit for the day. You heard stories, funny and unbridled ones to tragic events that loomed over the cafe at one point in time. Through his words, you saw how he saw the people around him. All these customers that come and go, all these stories brimming with life. You wanted to be a part of this, this world he saw around him. You wanted to be a part of him.

• more to come •

**Author's Note:**

> Story is inspired by Park Jimin's song of the same title, To Him.
> 
> One-shot for now but might continue if the words permit.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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